Jump to content

Home Association Fees


eLy383Inc

Recommended Posts

That's a loaded question--make sure you compare apples to apples. What does your association have to pay for? Is it overcollecting for future common space capital expenditures like painting, roof replacement, a pool? Or spending money on frivolous items? What about insurance? If there was a natural disaster, is the assocation required to pay for repairs from existing funds?

You can generally dissolve an association as long as you follow the by-laws for doing so, but why on earth would you want to? Fiscal restraint is inportant, hopefully the board members see that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pair up with similar properties. You might have different ACC rules, but you will gain significant cost savings from the economy of scale. This is not unlike industry groups pooling assets to purchase insurance.

I am a member of the Hadley Homeowner's Association. We just received a notice on my door that we are dumping our management company and running it ourselves. We pay > $1400 per year in association fees. It is BS and such a waste of money.

2 things you can do: (1) get a copy of the bylaws from your HOA and request an audit, (2) get a lawyer to review your deed to see if there is legal restrictions requiring you to be a part of a HOA.

I wish our HOA would just get annexed by the larger Baldwin Square association. My brother is in that one and pays much lower fees...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am a member of the Hadley Homeowner's Association.Ā  We just received a notice on my door that we are dumping our management company and running it ourselves.Ā  We pay > $1400 per year in association fees.Ā  It is BS and such a waste of money.Ā 

2 things you can do: (1) get a copy of the bylaws from your HOA and request an audit, (2) get a lawyer to review your deed to see if there is legal restrictions requiring you to be a part of a HOA.Ā  Ā 

I wish our HOA would just get annexed by the larger Baldwin Square association.Ā  My brother is in that one and pays much lower fees...

I just assisted some friends in taking back their homeowners association. I'm an attorney and have noticed a disturbing trend. There are some HOA's that are getting pillaged by the attorneys who set up the HOA in the first place. For example, I helped one community who discovered that their HOA was being managed by the law firm who set-up the HOA. The law firm charged the HOA for doing "legal" work that was suspect at best.

Very disturbing stuff. Be careful out there, especially if you're in a newly created HOA.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would like to echo some of these same comments. I know my association's fees are high, but the association / complex has a master water meter for all the units. So the association must pay for water usage. That is a huge expense. Do you pay for your own water directly or does the association pay for it? Landscaping is another large expense. I don't think people realize how expensive many of these items are. Insurance for both property and Directors & Officers Liability insurance are other significant expenses.

All that being said, we pay about 1400.00 per year and don't pay any management fees. At the end of the year, we spend nearly all of what we take in. The danger in that is we are also responsible for exterior maintenance of homes, etc. You would want your association to ensure they have adequate funds on hand for these issues.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would like to echo some of these same comments.Ā  I know my association's fees are high, but the association / complex has a master water meter for all the units.Ā  So the association must pay for water usage.Ā  That is a huge expense.Ā  Do you pay for your own water directly or does the association pay for it?Ā  Landscaping is another large expense.Ā  I don't think people realize how expensive many of these items are.Ā  Insurance for both property and Directors & Officers Liability insurance are other significant expenses.

All that being said, we pay about 1400.00 per year and don't pay any management fees.Ā  At the end of the year, we spend nearly all of what we take in.Ā  The danger in that is we are also responsible for exterior maintenance of homes, etc.Ā  You would want your association to ensure they have adequate funds on hand for these issues.

I pay approximately $500.00 per month for my Association consisting of only 11 units. A special assement of $150.00 is included after the Allisson flood for additional insurance. We all pay for our own water. We barely have any grass so landscaping is minimal since we just have a bunch of trees and bushes. I understand they are trying to save money for repairs and improvements for the future, but I think ours is very high.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Again, ours includes water, sewer, trash, etc. which equates into about 30-35% of total fees. $500.00 per MONTH does seem high.

You should ask your association for their budget and expenses if you have questions about what your money is going towards. They almost certainly have to disclose this information upon request of homeowners.

We don't pay for flood insurance and I don't see why your association pays for flood insurance. That should be an individual homeowner's expense, unless your association owns a building, etc. Do you live in a high-rise / condo or a townhome? Again, I would highly recommend asking for a break out of your associations expenses.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I pay approximately $500.00 per month for my Association consisting of only 11 units. A special assement of $150.00 is included after the Allisson flood for additional insurance. We all pay for our own water. We barely have any grass so landscaping is minimal sinceĀ  we just have a bunch of trees and bushes. I understand they are trying to save money for repairs and improvements for the future, but I think ours is very high.

How old is your complex. My townhouse community is 24 units, 6 years old and we pay 800 annually. Our water is covered. I am not really sure what else is covered. I know we are saving for a paint job and a new roof (in 9-14 years).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...
Again, ours includes water, sewer, trash, etc. which equates into about 30-35% of total fees. $500.00 per MONTH does seem high.

You should ask your association for their budget and expenses if you have questions about what your money is going towards. They almost certainly have to disclose this information upon request of homeowners.

We don't pay for flood insurance and I don't see why your association pays for flood insurance. That should be an individual homeowner's expense, unless your association owns a building, etc. Do you live in a high-rise / condo or a townhome? Again, I would highly recommend asking for a break out of your associations expenses.

I'm thinking about buying a brand new condo in a CA high-rise but the HOA is about $700/month. I am not kidding. This includes a really nice gym, swimming pool, waterfront view, spa, yoga/pilates classes (extra), etc etc the list goes on and on.

For the same cost of a single family home 10-30 miles away from the ocean, typical HOAs for a new house I've seen is about ~$150-$200/month.

Obviously, there is a huge gap between a single family home and a high-rise. Is this price gap normal in other parts of the country?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm thinking about buying a brand new condo in a CA high-rise but the HOA is about $700/month. I am not kidding. This includes a really nice gym, swimming pool, waterfront view, spa, yoga/pilates classes (extra), etc etc the list goes on and on.

For the same cost of a single family home 10-30 miles away from the ocean, typical HOAs for a new house I've seen is about ~$150-$200/month.

Obviously, there is a huge gap between a single family home and a high-rise. Is this price gap normal in other parts of the country?

You are paying for the cost of upkeep on that highrise building. It is expensive. It's an eye opener to review a copy of the building's budget. This should be provided to you by the Realtor or developer.

On a home you will have to paint every 10 to 15 years, replace the roof every 20, pay for yard work, maintenance on the pool. The cost of keeping a home maintained is relatively high too if you look at it over the long haul. That's what the high rise management is doing, looking at the long term costs and saving that money for those events.

In a high rise you are paying for the staff also. Costs are higher in what is usually called a "full service building". This would include concierge, parking lot attendants, etc. For lower costs ask for limited service buildings.

It's a lifestyle choice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...